Barachi
| Barachim are an amphibious humanoid race, spawned at the dawn of time as servants for the gods. Inevitably, they rebelled and fled into the mortal world; but even uncounted years later, the darkness still flees at their approach, remembering those who they once served.
Barachians' most remarkable trait is their grossly overmuscled legs, which allow them to leap great distances. When not leaping, they are somewhat slow-moving, and the long sight-lines that their heritage creates can be a major disadvantage, but they can master almost any skill. |
Contents
Innate Abilities
- +1 LOS: Barachi has a line of sight of 8 tiles instead of the normal 7. This means that they can see more monsters at once; they can also attack monsters from further away, but vice versa as well.
- Amphibious
- Slow 1: Barachians move slowly, taking 1.2 turns to move.
- Strong Legs 1: Can hop short distances (up to four tiles), but without complete accuracy. Hopping requires a LOS unobstructed by any physical obstacles; however, one can hop over interposed monsters, plants, statues. Hopping can be used to reliably free oneself from nets and webs. Hopping is not blinking, so it continues to function when one is affected by teleport restrictions or Dimension Anchor. After hopping, you will be unable to use this ability again until you have spent some time not moving. (Other actions, such as casting spells and attacking, are fine.)
Barachim have a base Strength of 9, Intelligence of 8 and Dexterity of 7 (before Background modifiers).
Preferred Backgrounds
- Warriors: Fighter
- Zealots: Berserker
- Warrior-mages: Skald
- Mages: Summoner, Ice Elementalist.
Level Bonuses
- +1 to a random stat every 4 levels.
- Average HP
- Average MP
- +3 magic resistance per level
- Strong Legs 2, at level 13: the hopping range is increased, up to six tiles.
Starting Skills and Equipment
Barachim receive the skills and equipment listed for their background.
Difficulty of Play
| Simple • Intermediate • Advanced |
Having another tile added to their Line of Sight results in monsters becoming aware of them earlier and in greater numbers. The slow speed makes sure that a Barachi cannot outrun these monsters when the upstairs are far away. This is somewhat offset by the unique escape of hopping, which gives the Barachim actually a great advantage in places where a controlled blink is not possible, notably Zot. The aptitudes of a Barachi, for combat, defences and magic, belong to the best among all species. This makes them very versatile, a lot more than the short list of recommended backgrounds seems to suggest.
Skill aptitudes
The higher the value, the better the aptitude.
| Skill | Aptitude | Skill | Aptitude | Skill | Aptitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | Miscellaneous | Magic | |||
| Fighting | 2 | Armour | 2 | Spellcasting | 0 |
| Dodging | 1 | ||||
| Maces & Flails | 1 | Shields | 1 | Conjurations | 1 |
| Axes | 1 | Stealth | 0 | Hexes | 1 |
| Polearms | 0 | Summonings | 2 | ||
| Staves | 1 | Invocations | -1 | Necromancy | -1 |
| Unarmed Combat | 1 | Evocations | 1 | Translocations | 1 |
| Throwing | 0 | Shapeshifting | 0 | Alchemy | 1 |
| Fire Magic | 1 | ||||
| Short Blades | 1 | Ice Magic | 2 | ||
| Long Blades | 2 | Air Magic | 1 | ||
| Ranged Weapons | 0 | Experience | 0 | Earth Magic | 0 |
Strategy
Barachi struggle early on due to their slow speed, so it is important to develop a successful strategy for killing enemies quickly. The excellent aptitudes make this easy, thankfully. Additionally, they are far less limited in escape options than their slower counterparts, nagas, for they aren't quite as slow and they can hop to escape especially dangerous melee encounters.
Almost every god will work with Barachi, although it is wise to choose a god without a significant invocations requirement, to counter their poor invocations aptitude.
Cheibriados is a natural god choice for he helps you survive your slow pace. He even rewards to kill any speedier monsters which are almost all. Your innate hop ability also somewhat mitigates the additional speed penalty you get on worshipping him.
History
Barachim were added in 0.20. Before release in the stable version, they were called Barachians.
